Monday, December 18, 2017

My Favorite Christmas Movie

Yes. It’s that time of year, when we get bombarded with gobs of “fresh” new takes on the meaning of Christmas. (Side note: I personally believe the meaning of Christmas is that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” in order that we might see his glory.) With that being said, I will share my favorite Christmas movie. 

First, I want to liken most Christmas movies to fruitcake (Confession, I’ve never actually eaten fruitcake. I just know it has a bad reputation). Ironically, fruitcake is so often associated with Christmas. It is colorful, complicated, and compact. And in spite of all that, people tend to not like it. But my favorite movie is more like banana bread: simple, light, and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like it.
 

This movie is....

A Christmas Story. Yes. I know it’s popular now, even mainstream. But, (in spite of what some have said) I’m no hipster wannabe who refuses to like something just because it’s popular. And, I’m glad it’s popular. If I had cable, I’d catch at least one viewing of the numerous marathons on various channels.

I know some have complained there is no (or little) plot, and while I do like a good plot, their are those few movies that pull off the slice of life segments brilliantly, A Christmas Story is one such movie. (Napoleon Dynamite was another. The Sandlot, another.) The movie is great because each tiny story weaves itself into a relatable narrative, and then lets the audience make of it what they will.

We all know what it is like to wait in eager expectation for something (especially during Christmas) only to be let down. We all understand that beneath the gruff exterior of a manly-man, there is a guy who does want to make his children happy, but just doesn’t know how to go about it. And, who of us has experienced fighting against the crowd for what you really want, refusing to listen to their warnings only to realize after you were victorious, that perhaps their warnings were warranted? Yet, full of pride, we find a cunning way to save face. How dare we admit our naysayer were right… We know things fall apart…Our lives never stay as tidy as we would like... People in our lives love things we find hideous… Our loved-one’s ‘accidentally’ wreck a treasured hideous possession… We know we screw up… A Christmas Story is life.

This is what is so brilliant about the movie. It often encapsulates the ‘reality’ of Christmas, not the wishful idealism that says... if we simply place our faith in the goodness of humanity… if we believe in our hearts good things will happen… if we behave and do good things... then peace on earth will grow to fruition. All will be well... And so, I wonder if that’s why after the holiday’s some fall into a depressed slump. We’re fed messages of “good will toward men” and we even try to live as such during the season, but then it all fades. We have to go back to work. The bills come in. A Christmas Story doesn’t offer false hopes. It simply shows us a series of events in life as they really are. And, after everything has fallen apart, it shows that joy must be found outside the hype (both moral and commercial) of the Christmas season. 


Concerning Christmas hope, many movies have human-centered morals. What can we do? How can we feel? Who can we be? And as with a New Year’s resolution, Christmas does help us with these purposes, for a spell. But, then like the messy humans from A Christmas Story, things fall apart. We fail. Thus, I believe the true meaning of is Christmas offers our only hope. It does not revolve around what we can do, who we can be, or how we can feel, but on what God has done. That will never fail.

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